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Cain

Cain[a] is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible.[2] He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. However, God was not pleased and favored Abel's offering over Cain's. Out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother, for which he was punished by God with the curse and mark of Cain. He had several children, starting with Enoch and including Lamech.

Cain
Born64-70 AM
Died930 AM (aged 860-866)
Spouse(s)Awan, who was his sister[1]
ChildrenEnoch
ParentAdam and Eve
RelativesIn Genesis:
Abel (sibling)
Seth (sibling)
According to later traditions:
Aclima (sibling)
Awan (sibling)
Azura (sibling)

The narrative is notably unclear on God's reason for rejecting Cain's sacrifice. Some traditional interpretations consider Cain to be the originator of evil, violence, or greed. According to Genesis, Cain was the first human born and the first murderer.

Genesis narrative

Interpretations

Jewish and Christian interpretations

A question arising early in the story is why God rejected Cain's sacrifice. The text states that "In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor." Genesis 4:3-5a. Noteworthy is the difference in the type of sacrifice: fruits of the soil are renewable and bloodless. Fat-portions are set apart for the Lord [see Leviticus 3:16], and came from the firstborn - which point to an act of faith, since it is not guaranteed there will be more. The Midrash suggest that although Abel brought the best meat from his flock, Cain did not set aside for God the best of his harvest.[3]

Similar to the internalized spiritual death God warns Adam and Eve of from eating the forbidden fruit - they do not physically die immediately but over the course of time their bodies age and die - the Lord warns Cain that his inappropriate anger is waiting to consume him: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” [ Genesis 4:7 ]

Curse and Mark

According to Genesis 4:1–16, Cain treacherously murdered his brother, Abel, lied about the murder to God, and as a result, was cursed and marked for life. With the earth left cursed to drink Abel's blood, Cain was no longer able to farm the land. He becomes a "fugitive and wanderer", and receives a mark from God - commonly referred to as the mark of Cain - so that no one can enact vengeance on him.[4]

Exegesis of the Septuagint's narrative, "groaning and shaking upon the earth" has Cain suffering from body tremors.[5] Interpretations extend Cain's curse to his descendants, where they all died in the Great Deluge as retribution for the loss of Abel's potential offspring.[6]

Islamic interpretation

Etymology

 
The Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve by William Blake, 1826

One popular theory regarding the name of Cain connects it to the verb "kana" (קנהqnh), meaning "to get" and used by Eve in Genesis 4:1 when she says after bearing Cain, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." In this viewpoint, articulated by Nachmanides in the thirteenth century, Cain's name presages his role of mastery, power, and sin.[7] In one of the Legends of the Jews, Cain is the fruit of a union between Eve and Satan, who is also the angel Samael and the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and Eve exclaims at Cain's birth, "I have gotten a man through an angel of the Lord."[8] According to the Life of Adam and Eve (c. 1st century CE), Cain fetched his mother a reed (qaneh) which is how he received his name Qayin (Cain). The symbolism of him fetching a reed may be a nod to his occupation as a farmer, as well as a commentary to his destructive nature. He is also described as "lustrous", which may reflect the Gnostic association of Cain with the sun.[9]

Characteristics

Cain is described as a city-builder,[10] and the forefather of tent-dwelling pastoralists, all lyre and pipe players, and bronze and iron smiths.[11]

In an alternate translation of Genesis 4:17, endorsed by a minority of modern commentators, Cain's son Enoch builds a city and names it after his son, Irad. Such a city could correspond with Eridu, one of the most ancient cities known.[12] Philo observes that it makes no sense for Cain, the third human on Earth, to have founded an actual city. Instead, he argues, the city symbolizes an unrighteous philosophy.[13]

In the New Testament, Cain is cited as an example of unrighteousness in 1 John 3:12 and Jude 1:11. The Targumim, rabbinic sources, and later speculations supplemented background details for the daughters of Adam and Eve.[14] Such exegesis of Genesis 4 introduced Cain's wife as being his sister, a concept that has been accepted for at least 1,800 years.[15] This can be seen with Jubilees 4 which narrates that Cain settled down and married his sister Awan, who bore their first son, the first Enoch, approximately 196 years after the creation of Adam. Cain then establishes the first city, naming it after his son, builds a house, and lives there until it collapses on him, killing him[16] on the same year of Adam's death.[17]

Relationship with the ground

In this alternative reading of the text, the ground could be personified as a character. This reading is evidenced by given human qualities, like a mouth, in the scripture. The ground is also the only subject of an active verb in the verse that states, "It opens its mouth to take the blood." This suggests that the ground reacted to the situation. By that logic, the ground could then potentially be an accomplice to the murder of Abel (Jordstad 708). The reaction from the ground raises the question, "Does the intimate connection between humans and the ground mean that the ground mirrors or aids human action, regardless of the nature of that action?"[18]

Other stories

In Jewish tradition, Philo, Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan asserted that Adam was not the father of Cain. Rather, Eve was subject to adultery having been seduced by either Sammael,[19][20] the serpent[21] (nahash, Hebrew: נחש) in the Garden of Eden,[22] or the devil himself.[14] Christian exegesis of the "evil one" in 1 John 3:10–12 have also led some commentators, like Tertullian, to agree that Cain was the son of the devil[23] or some fallen angel. Thus, according to some interpreters, Cain was half-human and half-angelic, one of the Nephilim (Genesis 6). Gnostic exegesis in the Apocryphon of John has Eve seduced by Yaldabaoth. However, in the Hypostasis of the Archons, Eve is raped by a pair of Archons.[24]

Pseudo-Philo, a Jewish work of the first century CE, narrates that Cain murdered his brother at the age of 15. After escaping to the Land of Nod, Cain fathered four sons: Enoch, Olad, Lizpha and Fosal; and two daughters: Citha and Maac (the latter five aren't mentioned in the Bible). Cain died at the age of 730, leaving his corrupt descendants spreading evil on earth.[25] According to the Book of Jubilees, Cain murdered his brother with a stone. Afterwards, Cain was killed by the same instrument he used against his brother; his house fell on him and he was killed by its stones.[26] A heavenly law was cited after the narrative of Cain's death saying:

With the instrument with which a man kills his neighbour with the same shall he be killed; after the manner that he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him.[27]

A Talmudic tradition says that after Cain had murdered his brother, God made a horn grow on his head. Later, Cain was killed at the hands of his great grandson Lamech, who mistook him for a wild beast.[28] A Christian version of this tradition from the time of the Crusades holds that the slaying of Cain by Lamech took place on a mound called "Cain Mons" (i.e. Mount Cain), which is a corruption of "Caymont", a Crusader fort in Tel Yokneam in modern-day Israel.[29]

The story of Cain and Abel is also made reference to in chapter 19 of 1 Meqabyan, a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[30] In this text, Cain killed Abel because he desired Abel's wife.

According to the Mandaean scriptures including the Qolastā, the Book of John and Genzā Rabbā, Abel is cognate with the angelic soteriological figure Hibil Ziwa[31] who taught John the Baptist.[32]

In the book Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland, Cain is a lunar figure.[33]

Family

Family tree

The following family tree of the line of Cain is compiled from a variety of biblical and extra-biblical texts.

  1. ^ /kn/; Hebrew: קַיִן Qáyin, pausa קָיִןQā́yin; Greek: Κάϊν Káïn; Arabic: قابيل/قايين, romanizedQābīl/Qāyīn
  2. ^ a b c Genesis 4:1
  3. ^ Genesis 4:2
  4. ^ Genesis 4:25; 5:3
  5. ^ Genesis 4:17
  6. ^ Genesis 4:26; 5:6–7
  7. ^ a b c d Genesis 4:18
  8. ^ Genesis 5:9–10
  9. ^ Genesis 5:12–13
  10. ^ Genesis 5:15–16
  11. ^ a b Genesis 4:19
  12. ^ Genesis 5:18–19
  13. ^ Genesis 4:20
  14. ^ Genesis 4:21
  15. ^ a b Genesis 4:22
  16. ^ Genesis 5:21–22
  17. ^ Genesis 5:25–26
  18. ^ Genesis 5:28–30
  19. ^ a b c Genesis 5:32


Sisters/wives

Various early commentators have said that Cain and Abel have sisters, usually twin sisters. According to Rabbi Joshua ben Karha as quoted in Genesis Rabbah, "Only two entered the bed, and seven left it: Cain and his twin sister, Abel and his two twin sisters."[34][35]

Motives

 
Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Kibble Palace. Edwin Roscoe MullinsCain or My Punishment is Greater than I can Bear (Genesis 4:13), about 1899.

The Book of Genesis does not give a specific reason for the murder of Abel. Modern commentators typically assume that the motives were jealousy and anger due to God rejecting Cain's offering, while accepting Abel's.[36] The First Epistle of John says the following:

Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous."

— 1 John 3:12

Ancient exegetes, such as the Midrash and the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, tell that the motive involved a desire for the most beautiful woman. According to Midrashic tradition, Cain and Abel each had twin sisters; each was to marry the other's. The Midrash states that Abel's promised wife, Aclima, was more beautiful than Awan, Cain's promised wife. And so, after Cain would not consent to this arrangement, Adam suggested seeking God's blessing by means of a sacrifice. Whoever God blessed would marry Aclima. When God openly rejected Cain's sacrifice, Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy and anger.[36][37] Rabbinical exegetes have discussed whether Cain's incestuous relationship with his sister was in violation of halakha.[38]

Legacy and symbolism

A millennia-old explanation for Cain being capable of murder is that he may have been the offspring of a fallen angel or Satan himself, rather than being the son of Adam.[22][14][24]

A medieval legend has Cain arriving at the Moon, where he eternally settled with a bundle of twigs. This was originated by the popular fantasy of interpreting the shadows on the Moon as a face. An example of this belief can be found in Dante Alighieri's Inferno (XX, 126[39]) where the expression "Cain and the twigs" is used as a kenning for "moon".

In Latter-day Saint theology, Cain is considered to be the quintessential Son of Perdition, the father of secret combinations (i.e. secret societies and organized crime), as well as the first to hold the title Master Mahan meaning master of [the] great secret, that [he] may murder and get gain.[40]

In Mormon folklore a second-hand account relates that an early Mormon leader, David W. Patten, encountered a very tall, hairy, dark-skinned man in Tennessee who said that he was Cain. The account states that Cain had earnestly sought death but was denied it, and that his mission was to destroy the souls of men.[41][42] The recollection of Patten's story is quoted in Spencer W. Kimball's The Miracle of Forgiveness, a popular book within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[43] This widespread Mormon belief is further emphasized by an account from Salt Lake City in 1963 which stated that "One superstition is based on the old Mormon belief that Cain is a black man who wanders the earth begging people to kill him and take his curse upon themselves (M, 24, SLC, 1963)."[44]

Freud's theory of fratricide is explained by the Oedipus or Electra complex through Carl Jung's supplementation.[45]

There were other, minor traditions concerning Cain and Abel, of both older and newer date. The apocryphal Life of Adam and Eve tells of Eve having a dream in which Cain drank his brother's blood. In an attempt to prevent the prophecy from happening the two young men are separated and given different jobs.[46]

The author Daniel Quinn, first in his book Ishmael and later in The Story of B, proposes that the story of Cain and Abel is an account of early Semitic herdsmen observing the beginnings of what he calls totalitarian agriculture, with Cain representing the first 'modern' agriculturists and Abel the pastoralists.[47]

Cultural portrayals and references

Notes

References

  1. ^ Charlesworth, James (2010), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2, p. 61
  2. ^ Schwartz, Loebel-Fried & Ginsburg 2004, p. 447.
  3. ^ Doukhan 2016, pp. 57, 61.
  4. ^ Byron 2011, pp. 93, 119, 121.
  5. ^ Byron 2011, p. 98.
  6. ^ Byron 2011, p. 122.
  7. ^ Doukhan 2016, p. 59.
  8. ^ Ginzberg, Louis (1909). The Legends of the Jews Vol I: The Ten Generations – The Birth of Cain (Translated by Henrietta Szold) Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
  9. ^ Byron 2011, pp. 15, 16: L.A.E. (Vita) 21:3, Trans. by Johnson.
  10. ^ Genesis 4:17
  11. ^ Genesis 4:19–22
  12. ^ Byron 2011, pp. 124–25.
  13. ^ Philo, Posterity of Cain lines 49–58 (from Works of Philo Judaeus, Vol. 1); quoted in Byron 2011, pp. 127–28.
  14. ^ a b c Luttikhuizen 2003, p. vii.
  15. ^ Byron 2011, p. 2.
  16. ^ "Cain". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  17. ^ "Jubilees 4". www.pseudepigrapha.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  18. ^ Mari Jørstad (2016). "The Ground That Opened Its Mouth: The Ground's Response to Human Violence in Genesis 4". Journal of Biblical Literature. 135 (4): 705. doi:10.15699/jbl.1354.2016.3010.
  19. ^ Byron 2011, p. 17: "And Adam knew about his wife Eve that she had conceived from Sammael" – Tg.Ps.-J.: Gen.4:1, Trans. by Byron.
  20. ^ Byron 2011, p. 17: "(Sammael) riding on the serpent came to her and she conceived [Cain]" – Pirqe R. L. 21, Trans. by Friedlander.
  21. ^ Byron 2011, p. 17: "First adultery came into being, afterward murder. And he [Cain] was begotten into adultery, for he was the child of the serpent." – Gos.Phil. 61:5–10, Trans. by Isenberg.
  22. ^ a b Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Vol. 1, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-8018-5890-9, pp. 105–09
  23. ^ Byron 2011, p. 17: "Having been made pregnant by the devil ... she brought forth a son." – Tertullian, Patience 5:15.
  24. ^ a b Byron 2011, pp. 15–19.
  25. ^ Pseudo-Philo (Biblical Antiquities of Philo), chapter 1
  26. ^ Jubilees 4:31
  27. ^ Jubilees 4:32
  28. ^ Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg – Volume I
  29. ^ Conder, C. R. (Claude Reignier) (1878). Tent work in Palestine. A record of discovery and adventure Vol. 1. London R. Bentley & Son. pp. 130–31.
  30. ^ "Torah of Yeshuah: Book of Meqabyan I – III". July 11, 2015.
  31. ^ Drower, E.S. (1932). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Gorgias Press.com. ISBN 978-1931956499.
  32. ^ "76 – Anush-Uthra and Christ". 9 July 2012.
  33. ^ Mathiesen, Robert (1998). "Charles G. Leland and the Witches of Italy: The Origin of Aradia". In Mario Pazzaglini (ed.). Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, A New Translation. Blaine, Washington: Phoenix Publishing, Inc. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-919345-34-8.
  34. ^ Midrash Rabbah: Genesis, Volume One, translated by Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman; London: Soncino Press, 1983; ISBN 0-900689-38-2; p. 180.
  35. ^ Luttikhuizen 2003, pp. 36–39.
  36. ^ a b Byron 2011, p. 11: Anglea Y. Kim, "Cain and Abel in the Light of Envy: A Study of the History of the Interpretation of Envy in Genesis 4:1–16," JSP (2001), pp. 65–84
  37. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1978). The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (reprint of 1894 ed.). Edwinstowe, England: Avenel Books. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-517-25921-4.
  38. ^ Byron 2011, p. 27.
  39. ^ Dante, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, canto 20, line 126 and 127. The Dante Dartmouth Project contains the original text and centuries of commentary.
    "For now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine
    On either hemisphere, touching the wave
    Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight
    The moon was round."
    Also in Paradiso, canto 2, line 51.
    But tell, I pray thee, whence the gloomy spots
    Upon this body, which below on earth
    Give rise to talk of Cain in fabling quaint?"
  40. ^ Moses 5:31
  41. ^ Letter by Abraham O. Smoot, quoted in Lycurgus A. Wilson (1900). Life of David W. Patten, the First Apostolic Martyr (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News) p. 50 (pp. 46–47 in 1993 reprint by Eborn Books).
  42. ^ Linda Shelley Whiting (2003). David W. Patten: Apostle and Martyr (Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort) p. 85.
  43. ^ Spencer W. Kimball (1969). The Miracle of Forgiveness (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, ISBN 0-88494-444-1) pp. 127–28.
  44. ^ Cannon, Anthon S., Wayland D. Hand, and Jeannine Talley. "Religion, Magic, Ghostlore." Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from Utah. Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 1984. 314. Print.
  45. ^ Jens de Vlemnick (2007). Psychoanalytische Perspectieven. Vol 25 (3/4). Cain and Abel: The Prodigal Sons of Psychoanalysis? Universiteit Gent.
  46. ^ Williams, David: "Cain and Beowulf: A Study in Secular Allegory, p. 21. University of Toronto Press, 1982
  47. ^ Whittemore, Amie. "Ishmael – Part 9: Sections 9–11". Cliffs Notes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  48. ^ a b c de Vries, Ad (1976). Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-7204-8021-4.
  49. ^ Nares, Robert (1859). "A glossary; or collection of words, phrases, names and allusions to customs, proverbs, etc., which have been thought to require illustration in the works of English authors, particularly of Shakespeare, and his contemporaries". John Russell Smith. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via Google Books.
  50. ^ Frey, John Andrew (1999). A Victor Hugo Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 70. ISBN 978-0313298967 – via Google Books.
  51. ^ "Pop Culture 101: East of Eden". TCM.com. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
  52. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (1 September 2010). The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead. Visible Ink Press. p. 274. ISBN 9781578593507. Retrieved 7 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  53. ^ Van Scott, Miriam (1999). The Encyclopedia of Hell. Macmillan. p. 74. ISBN 978-0312244422.
  54. ^ Prudom, Laura (15 April 2015). "'Supernatural': Misha Collins Teases 'Enormous Sacrifices' Ahead of Season Finale". Variety. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  55. ^ Rockett, Darcel (11 July 2017). "'Supernatural' spinoffs we'd love to see". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  56. ^ Thompson, Zac (20 January 2015). "Luther Strode Returns In April's 'The Legacy of Luther Strode'". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  57. ^ Adam White (September 23, 2017). "Mother! explained". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved September 30, 2017.

Bibliography

External links

cain, this, article, about, biblical, figure, other, uses, disambiguation, biblical, figure, book, genesis, within, abrahamic, religions, elder, brother, abel, firstborn, adam, first, couple, within, bible, farmer, gave, offering, crops, however, pleased, favo. This article is about the Biblical figure For other uses see Cain disambiguation Cain a is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions He is the elder brother of Abel and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve the first couple within the Bible 2 He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God However God was not pleased and favored Abel s offering over Cain s Out of jealousy Cain killed his brother for which he was punished by God with the curse and mark of Cain He had several children starting with Enoch and including Lamech CainCain by Henri Vidal 1896 Jardin des Tuileries ParisBorn64 70 AMDied930 AM aged 860 866 Spouse s Awan who was his sister 1 ChildrenEnochParentAdam and EveRelativesIn Genesis Abel sibling Seth sibling According to later traditions Aclima sibling Awan sibling Azura sibling The narrative is notably unclear on God s reason for rejecting Cain s sacrifice Some traditional interpretations consider Cain to be the originator of evil violence or greed According to Genesis Cain was the first human born and the first murderer Contents 1 Genesis narrative 2 Interpretations 2 1 Jewish and Christian interpretations 2 2 Curse and Mark 2 3 Islamic interpretation 3 Etymology 4 Characteristics 5 Relationship with the ground 6 Other stories 7 Family 7 1 Family tree 7 2 Sisters wives 8 Motives 9 Legacy and symbolism 10 Cultural portrayals and references 11 Notes 12 References 13 Bibliography 14 External linksGenesis narrative EditMain article Cain and AbelInterpretations EditJewish and Christian interpretations Edit A question arising early in the story is why God rejected Cain s sacrifice The text states that In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord And Abel also brought an offering fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor Genesis 4 3 5a Noteworthy is the difference in the type of sacrifice fruits of the soil are renewable and bloodless Fat portions are set apart for the Lord see Leviticus 3 16 and came from the firstborn which point to an act of faith since it is not guaranteed there will be more The Midrash suggest that although Abel brought the best meat from his flock Cain did not set aside for God the best of his harvest 3 Similar to the internalized spiritual death God warns Adam and Eve of from eating the forbidden fruit they do not physically die immediately but over the course of time their bodies age and die the Lord warns Cain that his inappropriate anger is waiting to consume him If you do what is right will you not be accepted But if you do not do what is right sin is crouching at your door it desires to have you but you must rule over it Genesis 4 7 Curse and Mark Edit See also Curse and mark of Cain According to Genesis 4 1 16 Cain treacherously murdered his brother Abel lied about the murder to God and as a result was cursed and marked for life With the earth left cursed to drink Abel s blood Cain was no longer able to farm the land He becomes a fugitive and wanderer and receives a mark from God commonly referred to as the mark of Cain so that no one can enact vengeance on him 4 Exegesis of the Septuagint s narrative groaning and shaking upon the earth has Cain suffering from body tremors 5 Interpretations extend Cain s curse to his descendants where they all died in the Great Deluge as retribution for the loss of Abel s potential offspring 6 Islamic interpretation Edit Main article Cain and Abel in IslamEtymology Edit The Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve by William Blake 1826 One popular theory regarding the name of Cain connects it to the verb kana קנה qnh meaning to get and used by Eve in Genesis 4 1 when she says after bearing Cain I have gotten a man from the Lord In this viewpoint articulated by Nachmanides in the thirteenth century Cain s name presages his role of mastery power and sin 7 In one of the Legends of the Jews Cain is the fruit of a union between Eve and Satan who is also the angel Samael and the serpent in the Garden of Eden and Eve exclaims at Cain s birth I have gotten a man through an angel of the Lord 8 According to the Life of Adam and Eve c 1st century CE Cain fetched his mother a reed qaneh which is how he received his name Qayin Cain The symbolism of him fetching a reed may be a nod to his occupation as a farmer as well as a commentary to his destructive nature He is also described as lustrous which may reflect the Gnostic association of Cain with the sun 9 Characteristics EditCain is described as a city builder 10 and the forefather of tent dwelling pastoralists all lyre and pipe players and bronze and iron smiths 11 In an alternate translation of Genesis 4 17 endorsed by a minority of modern commentators Cain s son Enoch builds a city and names it after his son Irad Such a city could correspond with Eridu one of the most ancient cities known 12 Philo observes that it makes no sense for Cain the third human on Earth to have founded an actual city Instead he argues the city symbolizes an unrighteous philosophy 13 In the New Testament Cain is cited as an example of unrighteousness in 1 John 3 12 and Jude 1 11 The Targumim rabbinic sources and later speculations supplemented background details for the daughters of Adam and Eve 14 Such exegesis of Genesis 4 introduced Cain s wife as being his sister a concept that has been accepted for at least 1 800 years 15 This can be seen with Jubilees 4 which narrates that Cain settled down and married his sister Awan who bore their first son the first Enoch approximately 196 years after the creation of Adam Cain then establishes the first city naming it after his son builds a house and lives there until it collapses on him killing him 16 on the same year of Adam s death 17 Relationship with the ground EditIn this alternative reading of the text the ground could be personified as a character This reading is evidenced by given human qualities like a mouth in the scripture The ground is also the only subject of an active verb in the verse that states It opens its mouth to take the blood This suggests that the ground reacted to the situation By that logic the ground could then potentially be an accomplice to the murder of Abel Jordstad 708 The reaction from the ground raises the question Does the intimate connection between humans and the ground mean that the ground mirrors or aids human action regardless of the nature of that action 18 Other stories EditIn Jewish tradition Philo Pirke De Rabbi Eliezer and the Targum Pseudo Jonathan asserted that Adam was not the father of Cain Rather Eve was subject to adultery having been seduced by either Sammael 19 20 the serpent 21 nahash Hebrew נחש in the Garden of Eden 22 or the devil himself 14 Christian exegesis of the evil one in 1 John 3 10 12 have also led some commentators like Tertullian to agree that Cain was the son of the devil 23 or some fallen angel Thus according to some interpreters Cain was half human and half angelic one of the Nephilim Genesis 6 Gnostic exegesis in the Apocryphon of John has Eve seduced by Yaldabaoth However in the Hypostasis of the Archons Eve is raped by a pair of Archons 24 Pseudo Philo a Jewish work of the first century CE narrates that Cain murdered his brother at the age of 15 After escaping to the Land of Nod Cain fathered four sons Enoch Olad Lizpha and Fosal and two daughters Citha and Maac the latter five aren t mentioned in the Bible Cain died at the age of 730 leaving his corrupt descendants spreading evil on earth 25 According to the Book of Jubilees Cain murdered his brother with a stone Afterwards Cain was killed by the same instrument he used against his brother his house fell on him and he was killed by its stones 26 A heavenly law was cited after the narrative of Cain s death saying With the instrument with which a man kills his neighbour with the same shall he be killed after the manner that he wounded him in like manner shall they deal with him 27 A Talmudic tradition says that after Cain had murdered his brother God made a horn grow on his head Later Cain was killed at the hands of his great grandson Lamech who mistook him for a wild beast 28 A Christian version of this tradition from the time of the Crusades holds that the slaying of Cain by Lamech took place on a mound called Cain Mons i e Mount Cain which is a corruption of Caymont a Crusader fort in Tel Yokneam in modern day Israel 29 The story of Cain and Abel is also made reference to in chapter 19 of 1 Meqabyan a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church 30 In this text Cain killed Abel because he desired Abel s wife According to the Mandaean scriptures including the Qolasta the Book of John and Genza Rabba Abel is cognate with the angelic soteriological figure Hibil Ziwa 31 who taught John the Baptist 32 In the book Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland Cain is a lunar figure 33 Family EditFamily tree Edit The following family tree of the line of Cain is compiled from a variety of biblical and extra biblical texts Adam b Eve b Cain b Abel c Seth d Enoch e Enos f Irad g Kenan h Mehujael g Mahalalel i Methushael g Jared j Adah k Lamech g Zillah k Enoch l Jabal m Jubal n Tubal Cain o Naamah o Methuselah p Lamech q Noah r Shem s Ham s Japheth s k eɪ n Hebrew ק י ן Qayin pausa ק י ן Qa yin Greek Kain Kain Arabic قابيل قايين romanized Qabil Qayin a b c Genesis 4 1 Genesis 4 2 Genesis 4 25 5 3 Genesis 4 17 Genesis 4 26 5 6 7 a b c d Genesis 4 18 Genesis 5 9 10 Genesis 5 12 13 Genesis 5 15 16 a b Genesis 4 19 Genesis 5 18 19 Genesis 4 20 Genesis 4 21 a b Genesis 4 22 Genesis 5 21 22 Genesis 5 25 26 Genesis 5 28 30 a b c Genesis 5 32 Sisters wives Edit Various early commentators have said that Cain and Abel have sisters usually twin sisters According to Rabbi Joshua ben Karha as quoted in Genesis Rabbah Only two entered the bed and seven left it Cain and his twin sister Abel and his two twin sisters 34 35 Motives Edit Glasgow Botanic Gardens Kibble Palace Edwin Roscoe Mullins Cain or My Punishment is Greater than I can Bear Genesis 4 13 about 1899 The Book of Genesis does not give a specific reason for the murder of Abel Modern commentators typically assume that the motives were jealousy and anger due to God rejecting Cain s offering while accepting Abel s 36 The First Epistle of John says the following Do not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother And why did he murder him Because his own actions were evil and his brother s were righteous 1 John 3 12 Ancient exegetes such as the Midrash and the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan tell that the motive involved a desire for the most beautiful woman According to Midrashic tradition Cain and Abel each had twin sisters each was to marry the other s The Midrash states that Abel s promised wife Aclima was more beautiful than Awan Cain s promised wife And so after Cain would not consent to this arrangement Adam suggested seeking God s blessing by means of a sacrifice Whoever God blessed would marry Aclima When God openly rejected Cain s sacrifice Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy and anger 36 37 Rabbinical exegetes have discussed whether Cain s incestuous relationship with his sister was in violation of halakha 38 Legacy and symbolism EditA millennia old explanation for Cain being capable of murder is that he may have been the offspring of a fallen angel or Satan himself rather than being the son of Adam 22 14 24 A medieval legend has Cain arriving at the Moon where he eternally settled with a bundle of twigs This was originated by the popular fantasy of interpreting the shadows on the Moon as a face An example of this belief can be found in Dante Alighieri s Inferno XX 126 39 where the expression Cain and the twigs is used as a kenning for moon In Latter day Saint theology Cain is considered to be the quintessential Son of Perdition the father of secret combinations i e secret societies and organized crime as well as the first to hold the title Master Mahan meaning master of the great secret that he may murder and get gain 40 In Mormon folklore a second hand account relates that an early Mormon leader David W Patten encountered a very tall hairy dark skinned man in Tennessee who said that he was Cain The account states that Cain had earnestly sought death but was denied it and that his mission was to destroy the souls of men 41 42 The recollection of Patten s story is quoted in Spencer W Kimball s The Miracle of Forgiveness a popular book within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints 43 This widespread Mormon belief is further emphasized by an account from Salt Lake City in 1963 which stated that One superstition is based on the old Mormon belief that Cain is a black man who wanders the earth begging people to kill him and take his curse upon themselves M 24 SLC 1963 44 Freud s theory of fratricide is explained by the Oedipus or Electra complex through Carl Jung s supplementation 45 There were other minor traditions concerning Cain and Abel of both older and newer date The apocryphal Life of Adam and Eve tells of Eve having a dream in which Cain drank his brother s blood In an attempt to prevent the prophecy from happening the two young men are separated and given different jobs 46 The author Daniel Quinn first in his book Ishmael and later in The Story of B proposes that the story of Cain and Abel is an account of early Semitic herdsmen observing the beginnings of what he calls totalitarian agriculture with Cain representing the first modern agriculturists and Abel the pastoralists 47 Cultural portrayals and references EditSee also Cain and Abel Cultural portrayals and references In the Old English classic poem Beowulf c 1000 CE the monstrous Grendel and his mother are said to be descended from Cain 48 The expression Cain coloured beard Cain and Judas were traditionally considered to have red or yellow hair 49 is used in Shakespeare s The Merry Wives of Windsor 1602 48 Lord Byron rewrote and dramatized the story in the play Cain 1821 viewing Cain as symbolic of a sanguine temperament provoked by Abel s hypocrisy and sanctimony 48 Victor Hugo s poem La Conscience 1853 part of the La Legende des siecles collection tells of Cain and his family fleeing from God s wrath 50 John Steinbeck s 1952 novel East of Eden also a 1955 film refers in its title to Cain s exile and contains discussions of the Cain and Abel story which then play out in the plot 51 The role playing game Vampire the Masquerade 1991 refers to vampires as Cainites after Cain who is referred to as the first vampire 52 Country music group 4 Runner s song Cain s Blood 1995 uses Cain and Abel as a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil in the song s narrator 53 A Mark of Cain is featured in the TV series Supernatural 2005 and Cain appears as a character 54 55 Cain appears as the ultimate antagonist of the comic book series The Strange Talent of Luther Strode 2011 56 In Darren Aronofsky s allegorical film Mother 2017 the characters oldest son represent Cain and Abel 57 Notes EditReferences Edit Charlesworth James 2010 The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha vol 2 p 61 Schwartz Loebel Fried amp Ginsburg 2004 p 447 Doukhan 2016 pp 57 61 Byron 2011 pp 93 119 121 Byron 2011 p 98 Byron 2011 p 122 Doukhan 2016 p 59 Ginzberg Louis 1909 The Legends of the Jews Vol I The Ten Generations The Birth of Cain Translated by Henrietta Szold Philadelphia Jewish Publication Society Byron 2011 pp 15 16 L A E Vita 21 3 Trans by Johnson Genesis 4 17 Genesis 4 19 22 Byron 2011 pp 124 25 Philo Posterity of Cain lines 49 58 from Works of Philo Judaeus Vol 1 quoted in Byron 2011 pp 127 28 a b c Luttikhuizen 2003 p vii Byron 2011 p 2 Cain Jewish Encyclopedia Retrieved 2014 07 14 Jubilees 4 www pseudepigrapha com Retrieved 2022 07 15 Mari Jorstad 2016 The Ground That Opened Its Mouth The Ground s Response to Human Violence in Genesis 4 Journal of Biblical Literature 135 4 705 doi 10 15699 jbl 1354 2016 3010 Byron 2011 p 17 And Adam knew about his wife Eve that she had conceived from Sammael Tg Ps J Gen 4 1 Trans by Byron Byron 2011 p 17 Sammael riding on the serpent came to her and she conceived Cain Pirqe R L 21 Trans by Friedlander Byron 2011 p 17 First adultery came into being afterward murder And he Cain was begotten into adultery for he was the child of the serpent Gos Phil 61 5 10 Trans by Isenberg a b Louis Ginzberg The Legends of the Jews Vol 1 Johns Hopkins University Press 1998 ISBN 0 8018 5890 9 pp 105 09 Byron 2011 p 17 Having been made pregnant by the devil she brought forth a son Tertullian Patience 5 15 a b Byron 2011 pp 15 19 Pseudo Philo Biblical Antiquities of Philo chapter 1 Jubilees 4 31 Jubilees 4 32 Legends of the Jews Louis Ginzberg Volume I Conder C R Claude Reignier 1878 Tent work in Palestine A record of discovery and adventure Vol 1 London R Bentley amp Son pp 130 31 Torah of Yeshuah Book of Meqabyan I III July 11 2015 Drower E S 1932 The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran Gorgias Press com ISBN 978 1931956499 76 Anush Uthra and Christ 9 July 2012 Mathiesen Robert 1998 Charles G Leland and the Witches of Italy The Origin of Aradia In Mario Pazzaglini ed Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches A New Translation Blaine Washington Phoenix Publishing Inc p 50 ISBN 978 0 919345 34 8 Midrash Rabbah Genesis Volume One translated by Rabbi Dr H Freedman London Soncino Press 1983 ISBN 0 900689 38 2 p 180 Luttikhuizen 2003 pp 36 39 a b Byron 2011 p 11 Anglea Y Kim Cain and Abel in the Light of Envy A Study of the History of the Interpretation of Envy in Genesis 4 1 16 JSP 2001 pp 65 84 Brewer E Cobham 1978 The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable reprint of 1894 ed Edwinstowe England Avenel Books p 3 ISBN 978 0 517 25921 4 Byron 2011 p 27 Dante The Divine Comedy Inferno canto 20 line 126 and 127 The Dante Dartmouth Project contains the original text and centuries of commentary For now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine On either hemisphere touching the wave Beneath the towers of Seville Yesternight The moon was round Also in Paradiso canto 2 line 51 But tell I pray thee whence the gloomy spots Upon this body which below on earth Give rise to talk of Cain in fabling quaint Moses 5 31 Letter by Abraham O Smoot quoted in Lycurgus A Wilson 1900 Life of David W Patten the First Apostolic Martyr Salt Lake City Utah Deseret News p 50 pp 46 47 in 1993 reprint by Eborn Books Linda Shelley Whiting 2003 David W Patten Apostle and Martyr Springville Utah Cedar Fort p 85 Spencer W Kimball 1969 The Miracle of Forgiveness Salt Lake City Utah Bookcraft ISBN 0 88494 444 1 pp 127 28 Cannon Anthon S Wayland D Hand and Jeannine Talley Religion Magic Ghostlore Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from Utah Salt Lake City University of Utah 1984 314 Print Jens de Vlemnick 2007 Psychoanalytische Perspectieven Vol 25 3 4 Cain and Abel The Prodigal Sons of Psychoanalysis Universiteit Gent Williams David Cain and Beowulf A Study in Secular Allegory p 21 University of Toronto Press 1982 Whittemore Amie Ishmael Part 9 Sections 9 11 Cliffs Notes Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Retrieved 2 January 2017 a b c de Vries Ad 1976 Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery Amsterdam North Holland Publishing Company p 75 ISBN 978 0 7204 8021 4 Nares Robert 1859 A glossary or collection of words phrases names and allusions to customs proverbs etc which have been thought to require illustration in the works of English authors particularly of Shakespeare and his contemporaries John Russell Smith Retrieved 2 September 2017 via Google Books Frey John Andrew 1999 A Victor Hugo Encyclopedia Greenwood Publishing Group p 70 ISBN 978 0313298967 via Google Books Pop Culture 101 East of Eden TCM com Retrieved 2014 04 11 Melton J Gordon 1 September 2010 The Vampire Book The Encyclopedia of the Undead Visible Ink Press p 274 ISBN 9781578593507 Retrieved 7 September 2018 via Google Books Van Scott Miriam 1999 The Encyclopedia of Hell Macmillan p 74 ISBN 978 0312244422 Prudom Laura 15 April 2015 Supernatural Misha Collins Teases Enormous Sacrifices Ahead of Season Finale Variety Retrieved 2 October 2017 Rockett Darcel 11 July 2017 Supernatural spinoffs we d love to see Chicago Tribune Retrieved 2 October 2017 Thompson Zac 20 January 2015 Luther Strode Returns In April s The Legacy of Luther Strode Bloody Disgusting Retrieved 28 January 2019 Adam White September 23 2017 Mother explained The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 2022 01 12 Retrieved September 30 2017 Bibliography EditAlter Robert 2008 The Five Books of Moses A Translation with Commentary W W Norton amp Company ISBN 9780393070248 BDB Francis Brown Samuel Rolles Driver Charles Augustus Briggs 1997 1906 The Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon with an appendix containing the biblical Aramaic coded with the numbering system from Strong s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible 7 print ed Peabody Hendrickson ISBN 978 1565632066 Byron John 2011 Cain and Abel in Text and Tradition Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the First Sibling Rivalry Leiden and Boston Brill Publishers ISBN 978 9004192522 Blenkinsopp Joseph 2011 Creation Un creation Re creation A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1 11 New York Bloomsbury T amp T Clark ISBN 978 0 567 37287 1 Craig Jr Kenneth M December 1999 Shepherd David Tiemeyer Lena Sofia eds Questions Outside Eden Genesis 4 1 16 Yahweh Cain and Their Rhetorical Interchange Journal for the Study of the Old Testament SAGE Publications 24 86 107 128 doi 10 1177 030908929902408606 ISSN 1476 6728 S2CID 170152565 Doukhan Abi 2016 Biblical Portraits of Exile A Philosophical Reading Oxon Routledge ISBN 978 1 4724 7241 0 Gmirkin Russell E 2006 Berossus and Genesis Manetho and Exodus Bloomsbury ISBN 9780567134394 Kugler Robert Hartin Patrick 2009 An Introduction to the Bible Eerdmans ISBN 9780802846365 Kramer Samuel Noah 1961 Sumerian Mythology A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B C Revised Edition Philadelphia Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 978 0 8122 1047 7 Kugel James L 1998 Traditions of the Bible A Guide to the Bible as it was at the Start of the Common Era Cambridge Massachusetts u a Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0674791510 Luttikhuizen Gerard P ed 2003 Eve s Children The Biblical Stories Retold and Interpreted in Jewish and Christian traditions Vol 5 ed Leiden and Boston Brill Publishers ISBN 978 9004126152 Mann Steven T September 2021 Shepherd David Tiemeyer Lena Sofia eds Let There Be Cain A Clash of Imaginations in Genesis 4 Journal for the Study of the Old Testament SAGE Publications 46 1 79 95 doi 10 1177 0309089221998390 ISSN 1476 6728 S2CID 238412495 Sailhamer John H 2010 The Meaning of the Pentateuch Revelation Composition and Interpretation InterVarsity Press ISBN 9780830878888 Schlimm Matthew R 2011 Part 3 In Search of A Brother s Keeper Anger and Its Antitheses in Genesis Ethics outside Eden Cain and Abel From Fratricide to Forgiveness The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis Siphrut Literature and Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures Vol 7 University Park Pennsylvania Eisenbrauns imprint of Penn State University Press pp 135 143 doi 10 5325 j ctv1bxgwgm 15 ISBN 978 1 57506 224 2 S2CID 209438529 Schwartz Howard Loebel Fried Caren Ginsburg Elliot K 2004 Tree of Souls The Mythology of Judaism Oxford University Press p 447 ISBN 978 0195358704 Zucker David J February 2020 My Punishment Is Too Great to Bear Raising Cain Biblical Theology Bulletin SAGE Publications on behalf of Biblical Theology Bulletin Inc 50 1 7 21 doi 10 1177 0146107919892839 ISSN 1945 7596 S2CID 213466632 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cain Kohler Kaufmann Bennett W H Ginzberg Louis 1906 CAIN Jewish Encyclopedia Kopelman Foundation Archived from the original on 23 February 2014 Retrieved 3 February 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cain amp oldid 1133731806, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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